Dr Anne Schuchat: ‘These statistics don’t begin to reveal the emotional, social and financial toll that suicide exacts on individuals, families and communities that are left devastated.’
Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

Calls for better suicide-prevention efforts are mounting, after a federal study identified a sharp rise in suicide rates in the US over the past two decades.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study released last week, 25 states have recorded increases of more than 30% since the late 1990s.

The study found that suicide rates rose in men and women and across all age and ethnic groups, propelled by mental illness, substance use, financial hardship and relationship problems. Nationwide, the study said, the suicide rate rose by nearly 30% over the same 17-year period, 1999 to 2016.

“Suicide is just one of the three leading causes of death that are on the rise,” the CDC’s principal deputy director, Dr Anne Schuchat, said in a media briefing. “And these statistics don’t begin to reveal the emotional, social and financial toll that suicide exacts on individuals, families and communities that are left devastated.”

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The CDC said the analysis was meant to help identify ways to reduce the annual suicide rate by 20% by 2025, a goal established by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Rates of increase varied. Delaware recorded a 5.9% increase compared with 57.6% in North Dakota. Only Nevada did not record a rise.

The study also found that 54% of individuals who killed themselves had not been diagnosed with a mental-health condition. The costs in terms of medical care and lost work hours associated with suicide and attempted suicide – which was listed as “self-harm” for statistical purposes – amounted to $70bn annually.

The report showed a fourfold difference in state suicide rates, ranging from 6.9 per 100,000 residents per year in Washington DC to 29.2 in Montana. In 2016, nearly 45,000 Americans aged 10 and older died by suicide. Guns were the most common method of suicide, the study found.

In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.